The Church Part III

What is the church?

Its a question that is never far from my mind. I’m reminded of it in chapel when we sing songs with singular pronouns. I think about it at the church fair (when our small-sized church’s table is dwarfed under a mega-church’s banner, free nalgenes, and light display). I think about it during worship, when the music quiets and I know that there are people in church listening for the whispers of God so they can use their spiritual gifts.

During these times, I think to myself that the church should be doing this or that. Or, that I’m thankful that the church is doing this or that. Either way, I’m measuring what I currently see against something. The problem is, I’m not sure what that something is.

That something, that standard to which I compare, would be the ideal church. Christ’s church. What is that? I’m not sure. How does that manifest in culture? I don’t know. Scripture gives guidance and even mandates certain things. However, there are some aspects that I suspect are something like a puzzle. God knows the whole picture and has described it to His people. He’s given each of us a puzzle piece and so we slowly start to assemble ourselves into this picture. We link the wrong pieces, we try to force pieces to go where they don’t belong (I know I used to do this as a kid).

The beautiful thing is that we have continual guidance. My pastor said on Wednesday that being gripped by the Holy Spirit is like us gripping a pencil. That pencil only goes, does, and writes, what the hand says for it to do. When we allow the Holy Spirit to direct us puzzle pieces where to stand and link together, God’s picture is formed.

The confusing thing (for me) is that I only hold one piece. I can only see a limited number of other pieces. I had the big picture described to me, but I only know it in the way that a leader can tell me about his vision but I don’t actually know it (and, let me add, since it isn’t my vision, I certainly can’t credit myself or expect anything to be credited to me). This is why I say that I am not sure what that something, that standard is.

So I’ll keep wondering, searching, praying, seeking, talking in a corner booth at Perkins until 3 am with people as equally confused and frustrated as I am. If anyone has insight, please comment below!

Success

99% of the time that I say/write the word “success,” I think of the old Batman movie with Adam West when the characters say “Success, success, he’s done it, he’s done it” in an accent that sounds like an American/New York/British mix. Sometimes I say the line out loud. People give me strange looks.

Anyways!, now that I’m thinking of what I want to write, I wish I could change the title, but I’ve already invested in the theme and I can’t go back on commitment like that. So… success… today I ran a 5K. Not really a 5K, and not really running. I slowly jogged what happened to be 3.1 miles. It took about 45 minutes (about 15 mins of that walking for warm up/cool down and a few interspersed minutes used to keep me from death). Two times around the lake. I’m fairly happy with myself. My goal is to run an actual 5K race in 30:00, so I have a long way to go — but today was a definite milestone. It is like a baby’s first words. Kind of an accident, not really oratory “success,” but a milestone none-the-less.

Other things that made me smile:
Talked with my cousin who just got home from Iraq
Worked, and it went well!
Listened to a great sermon from Jesus Lifehouse
Got a little creative with my macaroni and cheese lunch and LOVED it.
Deep talk with a friend about “the church.” Maybe I will write more on that later.

Dear Tiffany,

Would you like to have another discussion about the church?

The Kingdom of God is supposed to be so incredibly counter culture… why does the American church feel it needs to wear a costume of culture to be noticed?

Thanks,
Grace

The Church, part II

What would happen if everyone was able to use their spiritual gifts to create ministries in the church and not just use them within existing ministries (lets call them boxes, for the sake of this argument).

What if worship teams were like they are in some Italian churches. Everyone brings their own instruments and a new band is created every week. Grandpa brings the tambourine. Someone else brings the clarinet. Everyone worships the Lord.

“That would never work.”

Why not? Because it may not sound as good as a rehearsed band? Because there would be no excluding people who aren’t good, or aren’t very spiritually mature?

Since when did worship become so boxed up? Since when did “ministry” have a certain form? Did we wisely learn what works and what doesn’t work over time from our previous church fathers? Or have we learned what will be a hit or a disaster with our audiences (I mean, congregations) from our culture?

There are articles saying that churches will be extinct in the next two generations. Thats 40 years. I highly doubt it. But it makes me think… where has the church gone wrong if we have fallen from being the representation of the Savior to an obsolete and discard-able institution?

When church sticks with you…

“Did you know when feel hungry you’re usually just thirsty?” ~ Joel.
“And by the time you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.” ~ Grace.
“And when you’re dehydrated, you’re already dead.” ~ Luke.

Haha.

I don’t know if this memory from spring break can be manipulated into any kind of spiritual metaphor, but did make me smile when I thought of it just now

There is an actual point to this entry. It goes like this: almost every Sunday I go to church and hear a great message, enjoy worship, and oftentimes because our congregation is spiritually sensitive someone will have a word of prophesy. All these things help me grow in the Lord from week to week, however most Sundays while the fruit of the service nurtures my spiritual life, what I actually ate does not stick with me. Church doesn’t usually stick with me.

But sometimes it does. For example, I heard a sermon this summer entitled “Where is God in suffering?” (or something like that) which has stuck with me for months. I often think about it and share that sermon with others.

One day in church, maybe back in November, a woman at my church in Minneapolis had a vision that she shared with the church. She said that she saw a person fighting with a bull. The person thought they had the bull by the horns, but instead the bull really had them. It was a metaphor for sin in our life. We may think we are just flirting with a small sin but we have it under control, but in reality we are opening up our lives and allowing satan to build a stronghold. We may think we are controlling satan but in reality, he is controlling us.

That thought has stayed with me. Every time I catch myself flirting with sin, thinking that I am the one in control… the “I can stop anytime I want to” attitude… I remember this vision. It has kept me from going down the wrong path many times in the past few months. I hope it encourages you too!